It now sounds like easyJet feels that a mandatory emissions standard should be made. The company feels that this would help to ensure a 40 percent reduction in CO2 emissions from the next generation of planes. The budget airline said that greener aircraft would be a lot more beneficial to the environment than continuing to tax the industry. This proposal comes just after a pledge was made by airlines in September to cut the industry’s CO2 emissions in half by 2050.

The chief executive of easyJet, Andy Harrison, said that aviation needs a global solution to emissions problems. The government’s first instinct, of course, is to tax the industry. However, this will not deliver a sustainable aviation as the industry tries to grow.

There is technology in the pipeline that can help airlines cut their CO2 emissions. However, tougher legislations need to be made to help this new technology make its way to carriers quicker. Andy Harrison noted that wartime has led to the biggest leaps in aviation technology. Thus, the government must ensure that the current war on climate change delivers the next big leap in aviation technology. Although it’s a different kind of war, it’s a war never the less.

Harrison continued that easyJet demands that a legislation is made for cleaner aircraft to get the industry to stop flying old inefficient aircrafts. This is a legislation that could not only help the aircraft industry, but also help the world to battle climate change head on if this is a legislation that other governments around the world would also use.